What is a wiki?

I’ve seen wikis before and have used Wikipedia countless times. However, I didn’t really understand what made a wiki more than just a website. Upon first glance, wikis do appear to be your average website, but it’s really what goes on behind the scenes that makes a wiki so powerful. The distinguishing characteristic of a wiki is the ability for anyone to edit the site anytime they want. This kind of openness seems careless at first, but these sites are built on a belief of collaborative construction. As Richardson (2010) puts it, wikis such as Wikipedia are based on the concept that “everyone together is smarter than anyone alone” (p. 57). Tools that utilize this collaborative construction are sought after in schools, and Vicki Davis’s first experience using wikis with students in her classroom is a testament to the power of this type of learning. Her students became engaged and excited about what they were doing in class with a wiki. Teachers overheard the students discussing it, and it became a buzz around her school. Her students took pride in being a part of the creation of the content of their wiki, and it gave them a sense of ownership. Richardson (2010) says wikis can “teach students much about how to work with others, how to create community, and how to operate in a world where the creation of knowledge and information is more and more becoming a group effort” (p. 69). With a focus on collaborative learning, wikis can provide students an opportunity to construct knowledge together with other students. Those students don’t have to be in the same class, school, or even the same country!

The Complexity of Wikis

Wikis can vary in complexity, which makes them suitable for students of any age. For example, this Kindergarten class created a wiki to show their counting skills. The wiki is very simple, consisting of only one page with the same type of information added each time—a picture showing objects. However, the students collaborated in their learning by creating pictures to show the desired number of objects, and the pictures became increasingly complicated as the numbers went higher. A slightly more complex wiki was created by third graders who were learning about westward expansion in our country. This wiki contains many pages, but each page is clearly labeled with a table of contents on the home page for quick reference. It is also easy to navigate from one page to the next. The pages themselves contain images and text created by students to show what they have learned, and their design is visually appealing in color and layout; none of the pages are busy or distracting. The wiki covers a variety of topics and information provided on each page ranges from timelines of westward expansion to recipes for hard tack. In addition to showcasing students’ collaborative work, teachers are using wikis to inform parents about what is happening in the classroom. Mr. Lindsay has created a multi-purpose wiki that serves both his students and their parents. He uses the wiki with his 6th grade students for curriculum, games, blogs, and links to resources. He also shares news and events with parents and has a parent help desk where they can offer to help out in his classroom. While his wiki serves many purposes, I find it to be quite busy and not as easy to navigate as some of the simpler ones due to the number of pages it contains. One of the most complex and impressive wikis I have seen is the Flat Classroom Project. This wiki is the joint project of two teachers, one from Georgia and the other from Qatar, with the goal of allowing students to work together without the boundaries of walls, oceans, or time. Students collaborate with those in other countries using Web 2.0 tools and share their knowledge on this wiki. It is a shining example of the power contained in the collaborative knowledge of many.

Wikis vs. Blogs

Wikis and blogs can seem very similar at first, and they both provide students with a constructivist style of learning through collaboration. However, their methods for reaching that end result of collaborative thinking are quite different. Blogs posts are designed by an individual and express his or her ideas. People comment on those, and that creates a kind of back and forth conversation through the commentary. Many people can be involved in the conversation and sharing of ideas, but only one person is speaking at a time. Wikis allow users to create knowledge together, at the same time. They share the role of editor, so the voice that comes through the wiki represents a unified group. As visitors to the wiki, we do not see the conversations but only the result of the users’ collaboration. I believe blogs and wikis can both be important tools for teachers. When thinking about how to implement these tools with students, teachers should consider the purpose and desired result to determine the role each will play in their classrooms.

My Wiki Future

Viewing examples of wikis got me excited about creating one with my own students, and it didn’t take long to decide what my first wiki will be. Every year our fifth graders study the Iditarod Sled Dog Race during the winter. We read Gary Paulsen’s Woodsong about his own adventures racing sled dogs, participate in a reading contest, and learn about the history and contestants of the race. This seemed like a perfect unit to re-invent as a wiki. I created the Follow Us to Nome wiki for my students to use. In addition, I plan to connect with a class in another part of the county using Epals to study the Iditarod together. The wiki will serve as a hub for our classes to collaborate on the information they learn about the mushers and the race and track their progress in the reading contest. We will also participate in a community service project in December making blankets for the sled dogs to sleep on at checkpoints during the race. This activity will be documented and shared on the wiki as well. Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Thousand Oak, California: Corwin.

Collaboration does seem to be the focus of the educational importance of wikis. You mention the sense of ownership that students take in building a wiki, which I would describe as an intrinsic motivation for students to participate and learn. I would love for all of my students to actually want to learn more about my subject (physical science), instead of having to come up with artificial motivators such as grades and/or "fun" activities.
I very much agree with what you say about organization. You describe a few examples of where the complexity of the layout hinders the usability of a wiki. I found similar issues on many of the wikis I've browsed. I'm not sure if there could be any one organizational protocol that would work for all wikis, but it seems that there might be some general guidelines that would fit according to the subject or level. I wonder if there is already a wiki about wikis that I could link to my own wikis, to help students and myself be sure to organize the wikis clearly (that's too many "wikis" in one sentence, I know :)).

Reply

Michele Lowe

6/19/2014 12:56:06 pm

Holli,
I thought you gave an excellent explanation about the differences between blogs & wikis. The fact that the end result of Wiki content is information that is co-constructed by a group of people interested in the topic is just amazing. There are unlimited possibilities to use Wikis for student-directed learning that will be very engaging to our students. When I read Vicki Davis’ article about her first time using Wikis with students, I was also excited to read about how engaged her students were in the project. I loved that students were updating the Wiki on their own, on their own time away from school. Now THAT is engaged learning! It was revealing that teachers were commenting to her that they couldn’t believe the amount of material her students were synthesizing & summarizing in one class period (those are two words every teacher wants used to describe student learning in their class, aren’t they?) Using the Study Hall Wiki to collaborate on notes given in class was also a great idea in that article. I know my 5th graders would have appreciated that option when I taught them a few years back.

I think your idea to create a Wiki to use for your Follow Us to Nome unit is great! I’d love to take a look at your Wiki; the link isn’t working, maybe you can set it to public and I’ll be able to see it? I think a Wiki is a perfect hub for collaboration between students in different parts of the world who are learning about the same topic. Have you thought about both classes reading Woodsong and maybe summarizing each chapter collaboratively on the Wiki as part of the project? Students could even illustrate their favorite parts of each chapter & post those illustrations online on the summary pages. You have excellent activities already planned & the service project idea of making the sled dogs’ blankets will be very special; sometimes those are the parts of the project students remember best because they’re sure to elicit an emotional connection.

I look forward to checking out your Follow Us to Nome Wiki!
Michele

Reply

Holli Bice

6/20/2014 03:09:53 am

Michele,

Thanks for the suggestions about my wiki. I hadn't thought of reading the book together, but that is a great idea. I also love your idea of adding illustrations to the wiki about the book. I appreciate you letting me know about the link. I thought I set it to public, but I guess I didn't. Anyway, it's fixed now, so please have a look around.